


Binary Star

by havisham



Series: havisham's SASO 2017 works collection [18]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Kuroko Tetsuya being Kuroko Tetsuya, M/M, POV Alternating, Rivalry, Touou Kagami Taiga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 10:37:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11160156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havisham/pseuds/havisham
Summary: If, on the contrary, two stars should really be situated very near each other, and at the same time so far insulated as not to be materially affected by the attractions of neighbouring stars, they will then compose a separate system, and remain united by the bond of their own mutual gravitation towards each other.Kagami goes to Touou, and Kuroko goes to Kaijou. Some things change, but others never will.





	Binary Star

**Author's Note:**

> The (last!) fill for SASO Bonus Round 1.5: AUs, for the [prompt:](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/21931.html?thread=11474091#cmt11474091) _AoKaga, KiKuro, Kuroko goes to Kaijou, Kagami goes to Touo. Can the power of TEAMWORK and LOVING BASKETBALL and NOT BEING A GIANT DOUCHE beat the power of THE ZONE? Will Kuroko ever get to get into the Zone? Who is the best light of them all?_
> 
>  
> 
> _CAN TOO MUCH LIGHT REALLY BLIND YOU?_

Daiki remembered the first time he’d seen Kagami play. Imayoshi had managed to get a video of one of his junior high matches, probably, and Daiki was more interested in mentally comparing the crowd, the faces and the bodies of the players -- they were all so goddamn _tall_ , in America -- to really care about the scrawny Number 7 that Imayoshi said might be joining them soon. 

“Why do we need this returnee brat anyway?” Daiki said, yawning. He stretched out so that his arms covered most of Sakurai’s desk and his legs knocked against the back of Wakamatsu’s chair. Imayoshi smiled at him, which probably meant bad things for him, but Daiki didn’t care. 

“ _We_ don’t need him,” Imayoshi said, the skin in the corners of his eyes creasing in amusement. “ _You_ do. As a challenge, to do better.”

“He won’t beat me,” Daiki said with a snort. 

“If he’s your teammate, you idiot,” Wakamatsu said, “he won’t need to.” 

*

Taiga had spent his first six months in Tokyo on the phone is with his father, begging to go back to the States. He felt all wrong here. Too big, too loud, too _weird_. The first school he’d enrolled in didn’t even have a basketball team -- something about an accident last year that had taken out one of the star players and then the club had disbanded -- and so he didn’t even have a regular basketball practice to fall back on. 

He’d been playing, rather disconsolately, at a street basketball court, when he noticed someone watching him. Taiga shot a suspicious glance over his shoulder. The guy didn’t look too old, but that didn’t mean anything. There was something kind of creepy about him. 

When he finally came up to introduce himself, Taiga debated on whether to ignore him and keep playing, or simply walk away. In the end, however, he listened to what the guy had to say. 

He was Imayoshi Shouichi and he was interested in Taiga’s basketball skills. “You’re from abroad -- America,” Imayoshi said, smiling slightly. It wasn’t a question, but Taiga nodded anyway. 

“You’re probably disappointed in the level of basketball here, right?” Imayoshi said. “Nothing like over there. But let me show you something --” He took out his phone and opened a video. 

It was a basketball game, a high school one, and pretty boring by the looks of it. Except for one person, one guy who seemed to be playing by himself, for all that the others could touch him or stop him. Once he had the ball, it was all over -- he blazed through the court and jammed in the basket. After that, he hopped back, a fierce smile on his face. 

Everything about him was beautiful and fierce, like lightening bottled up in one person. 

Taiga felt something stir in his chest. He didn’t know if it was envy or love or anything like that. He knew he had to play against this guy. Imayoshi chuckled and Taiga remembered that he existed again. 

“That’s right. We have Aomine Daiki. And if you go to our school, you can play against him all the time.” 

“I already have a school,” Taiga said, bristling. 

“Seirin had potential, last year,” Imayoshi said, “but with their ace gone and the club disbanded, do you really want to go through high school without playing, Kagami-kun?” 

“Wait,” Taiga said, frowning. “How did you know my name?” 

Imayoshi just smiled. 

That smile was going to quickly become irritating, Taiga could tell. 

*

It was like a scene from some corny anime -- Daiki had been catching up on his sleep in the back of the class when he was woken up by a teacher’s announcement -- “Class, please welcome Kagami Taiga-kun to Touou. Kagami-kun has recently returned from America, and we’ll do our best to take care of him!” 

Kagami surveyed the classroom with a disinterested eye. Daiki, who had been hunched over his books so the teacher wouldn’t notice the gravure magazine he’d secreted in between the pages of his history book, straightened up and caught Kagami’s attention. They stared at each other, neither of them blinking. 

Kagami broke first. He blinked and looked at the rest of the students, who looked at him expectantly. “Ah,” he said, making an awkward bow. “Please take care of me?” 

After introductions, Kagami took his seat in front of Daiki and immediately fell asleep. 

*

Taiga quickly learned that it was rare for Aomine to come to practice, which was dumb, but he learned even faster exactly _how_ dumb Aomine was -- after all, he saw the results of the day’s quiz too, and it probably would’ve been better if Aomine had just left it blank. 

“Oi, Kagami!” shouted Wakamatsu, passing the ball to him with unnecessary force, “stop drifting off!” 

Kagami caught the ball anyway. 

*

Daiki was snoozing at his usual spot on the roof when he heard someone coming toward him. He kept his eyes closed and said, “Get lost, Satsuki, I don’t feel like it today.” 

“Imayoshi really fucked with me, didn’t he?” said Kagami, bending down and removing the gravure magazine that Daiki had been using as a sunshade. He looked at briefly, brows furrowed, before he dropped it quickly into Daiki’s lap. Rude. It wasn’t as if Daiki had jerked off in it. Yet. 

“Obviously,” Daiki said, even though he didn’t really know what Kagami was talking about. Imayoshi fucked with everyone. That was the only thing that gave him joy in this world. 

“He showed me a vid of you playing and I thought -- that’s the guy I want to play with. But now that I get here, you’re just this lazy asshole who never comes to practice and who fails his tests.” 

“You’re not supposed to look at other students’ scores,” Daiki said primly. “Besides, I don’t need to go to practice to beat you.” 

“Oh?” There was a definite gleam of interest in Kagami’s eyes. “You wanna try?” 

Daiki considered this. “Feed me first.” 

It was during that impromptu date at Maji Burger that Daiki learned several things about Kagami: first, he had a bottomless stomach that made Daiki’s own healthy appetite seem inadequate, and second, he was apparently loaded, since he didn’t even blink at the ridiculous bill when it came due. 

The third thing Daiki learned came about after the food: Kagami was crazy good at basketball. Not as good as Daiki, obviously, but maybe it was worth going to practice if Daiki could keep playing -- could keep beating him. 

*

Taiga had just enrolled in Touou long enough to make the cutoff for the Interhigh, Momoi informed him. Imayoshi had planned it well, she didn’t say, but Taiga understood it to be true. She had placed a heavy packet of materials into Taiga’s arms, with the apparent expectation that he would read it. It was all in English which … Yeah, that helped. He hadn’t requested that, but Momoi noticed and did it anyway. She was like that. Meticulous. Precise. An excellent manager. 

He had no idea why she was friends with a hot mess like Aomine, but then again, he didn’t really have much in the way of childhood friends -- with the exception of Tatsuya, and look how that had turned out. 

“Kagamin?” Momoi said, leaning close enough to him that he could smell her perfume -- something sweet and floral, faintly powdery. Momoi was really pretty. Her skin was -- really nice. Soft-looking and spotless. She was pink and pretty and every teenage boy’s dream. Or she should be, except for Taiga --

 _Crap_ , Taiga thought, a little dismayed. _I really am_ that _gay._

“... I’m flattered, Kagamin,” Momoi was saying, with a flutter of her lashes. He must have been staring at her a little too long, and little too hard. “But I already have a boyfriend! Tetsu-kun! Do you want to see his picture?” 

Before Taiga could say yes or no, she pulled out her phone and showed him an increasingly blurry series of photos -- she was clearly with someone in most of them, but the person was so blank-looking that Taiga had a hard time picking him out from the background. 

What the hell did Momoi _see_ in this guy? And _how?_

_*_

“Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said gravely. He looked good in Kaijou blue, though Daiki couldn’t help but think he’d look even better in Touou black. But still, this was progress. Tetsu hadn’t even talked to him the last time they’d met. He still couldn’t get over what happened at Nationals during their last year at Teikou, Daiki assumed. But how was he supposed to know that that Ogiwara was so special to him, after all?

Or that he, Daiki, had only been a _replacement_ for him? 

“Ready to lose today, Tetsu?” Daiki said, with a broad grin. “Make sure Kise doesn’t cry too much on the court. It’s really embarrassing for the rest of us.”

“You are incorrect, Aomine-kun. Kise-kun and I are going to win today,” Tetsu said composedly. Daiki only grinned back at him. 

Then he turned and shouted for Kagami. 

Kagami took his time getting there and only came with a truculent look on his face, but Daiki had learned by now that Kagami was always weird about meeting new people. His arrogant American mask seemed to slip on without him noticing, which was too bad. Kagami was actually a huge -- sometimes endearing -- dork. 

“Kagami, this is Kuroko. Tetsu, this is Kagami. He’s on _my_ team, so you know you’re going down.” 

Tetsu looked at Kagami and then back at Daiki. There was a faint smile on his lips. “You two are almost blinding, you know.” 

“Huh?” Kagami said. 

Daiki shrugged. Tetsu was always saying weird shit like that. Light this, shadow that. He was used to it, and Kagami would be too, eventually. 

*

They won against Kaijou, but it was a close thing. The game was way more challenging than Taiga had expected when he had met Aomine’s friend, Kuroko. He tried to keep an eye on him during the match, but that proved more difficult than Taiga could’ve imagined -- the kid seemed to disappear when he was playing and those _passes_ were out of this world. 

And that Kise -- stealing Taiga’s moves like that! 

Taiga only half-paid attention to the talk about the Generation of Miracles. He had figured if Aomine was their ace, and he was getting to know Aomine’s gameplay inside out, he didn’t really need to worry so much about the rest of them. 

But that had been stupid, he realized that now. He really had to read that information packet Momoi had given him, as well the other ones that kept being added to the pile of things Taiga just couldn’t think about reading. 

When it came to lining up and shaking hands, Taiga found himself in front of Kuroko again. They shook hands and Kuroko’s were so much smaller than Taiga’s own. Fragile, but -- Taiga knew what those hands could do now. 

Kuroko still looked at him like he knew him. And the weird thing was -- it felt like Taiga knew him too. He couldn’t explain it. 

“You’ll take care of Aomine-kun, won’t you?” Kuroko said, so quietly that Taiga thought at first he hadn’t heard. 

“That lazy guy? I think that’s more Momoi’s thing…” Taiga said, ruffling his hair. He tugged at his hand and Kuroko finally let him go, with apparent reluctance. 

“Oi! Kagami! Tetsu! Stop getting lost into each other’s eyes, everyone’s going for ramen,” Aomine shouted to them. 

*

Kagami was clearly pissed about something.

It was probably something that Daiki had done, although he didn’t know what. He’d arrived at Kagami’s home as expected, with a gift -- two gifts, actually. The photobook of Mai-chan Kagami had instantly rejected, which was annoying but expected, and the meat Kagami had taken -- it was currently marinating in the fridge with a slew of ingredients that Daiki couldn’t even hope to identify. There was soy sauce and …?

“Yo, Kagami,” Daiki said. 

There was a long pause before Kagami stopped chopping vegetables and said, reluctantly, “What.” 

“Where did you learn to cook like that? I couldn’t do it.” 

“Well, duh, you’re like a hopeless little baby, aren’t you?” 

“Fuck off,” Daiki said without heat. “You live alone too. That’s crazy. Who’s looking after you?” 

“I’ve looked after myself for a long time,” Kagami said. He stopped chopping and washed his hands, and finally came to the couch that Daiki had sprawled out on. He kicked at Daiki’s legs until he moved over so Kagami could sit. “My mom died when I was a kid and my dad’s always been busy working.” 

“Poor little rich boy,” Daiki said, grinning. 

Kagami rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you could say that. I don’t complain because I know a lot of people have it much worse than me. Maybe you should learn how to take care of yourself too?” 

“Why should I?” Daiki said with a huge yawn. “You can take care of me and make me food. It would work.” 

“Keep dreaming.” 

“Ah? But don't you wanna be my wife, Taiga? I’ve seen the way you’ve looked at me. Even in the locker room, even when I’m showering, you giant perv.” 

Kagami’s whole face turned brick-red. He grabbed a hold of the front of Daiki’s shirt and pulled him forward. “What the fuck are you saying?” 

“You’re American, right? So using your given name is okay.” 

“That’s not it. The other thing.” 

“It's not like I blame you,” Daiki said, wetting the bottom of his lip and the biting at it. “I'm incredibly hot. You're not the first guy who’s had a crush on me.” 

“So what, you're going to tell everyone now and have Coach cut me from the team? Go die.” 

“Whoa, whoa,” Daiki said, raising up his hands and warding off Kagami’s evil eye. “Who said anything about telling anyone? I'm saying that I like you too, Bakagami.” 

Kagami was looking at him like he was seeing a ghost. Which would have been funny, except Kagami still hadn't let go to his shirt. He seemed to be composing himself for moment before he sighed and let go. “That’s the stupidest confession I’ve ever heard, Ahomine.” 

Then he kissed Daiki hard on the lips. 

_A stupid confession?_ Daiki thought, dazed. _But it worked, didn’t it?_

*

Aomine tried to help make dinner, but he was clearly hopeless at it. And he kept _touching_ Taiga too, the unexpected brushes of his hands across Taiga’s back, the brief press of his mouth against Taiga’s neck. It felt … Well, it felt really good, obviously, but also really distracting. After the third time -- Aomine stealing a kiss as Taiga was trying to get the wok in the right temperature and nearly setting his apron on fire as a consequence -- Taiga was getting fed up. 

But the breaking point came when Aomine straight up tried to give him a handjob when he was trying to wash the rice. Palmed his dick and everything, and Taiga was only human, and also a teenager, so of course he hardened right away -- fuck, had Aomine's mouth always been so sinful? But he came to his sense just in time and shoved Aomine out of the kitchen -- whining all the time -- and told him to go watch TV or something.

Instead, Aomine just stood there, just outside the kitchen, watching him like a vengeful ghost. At least, he did until Momoi called him, and then did he sit down on the couch and loudly complained about Taiga to her.

Then he called Kuroko to do the same thing. 

By the time Taiga was finished, Aomine informed him that Koruko and Kise were coming over and -- 

“Oh yeah, since we’re boyfriends now, you can go ahead and call me Daiki. But not maybe not in front of Kise, he’d go crazy whining because _blah blah blah_ we’ve known each other for years and I don’t allow him that familiarity… What are you staring at?” 

“What do you mean, we’re boyfriends?” 

“Huh? Aren’t we?” 

“You’re …” Taiga shrugged, helplessly. “You’re obsessed with het porn. You’re a total horndog. Why the hell do you want to be my boyfriend?” 

Daiki looked puzzled. He pulled out his phone and tapped into it, apparently lost in thought. “You’re right,” he said slowly. “There’s also … _gay_ porn. An entire universe of porn I’ve never seen.”

He looked faintly dazzled. 

_Oh Taiga, you fool._

*

“What, you don’t wanna be with me? Be more straightforward, Taiga.”

Taiga blushed and refused to say anything. The doorbell rang -- it was Tetsu and Kise. 

Tetsu, of course, immediately picked up on the strange atmosphere between them. Unfairly, he blamed the strangeness on Daiki. He gave him a long, unblinking stare and asked what was the matter. 

Daiki, however, wasn’t in the mood to fool around with Tetsu. Taiga’s reaction to his confession bothered him too much. Did that guy really not like him? He’d kissed him though, didn’t that mean that he accepted Daiki’s feelings for him? 

He was so distracted by this line of thought that he almost didn’t see Kise throwing his arms around Taiga. A sudden flare of jealousy shot through him. “Hands off, Kise,” he growled, glaring at him. 

Kise pouted. “Aominecchi is so mean to me! We came all the way here to hang out and play basketball with him and Kagamicchi, but he’s acting like a jealous boyfriend!” 

“T- _Kagami_ ’s not my boyfriend,” Daiki snapped. 

“Of course he isn’t! Kagamicchi needs someone who’s cute and devoted to him, not a gross playboy like you!” 

“I can be devoted,” Daiki muttered. “And obviously I’m very cute.” 

Kise stared at him, his mouth slightly open. 

“Kise-kun, Aomine-kun,” Tetsu said, his eyes wide and spooky. “This conversation is making Kagami-kun very uncomfortable, so let’s stop.” 

“Don’t you mean that it’s making you uncomfortable, Tetsu?” Daiki jeered. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten how you toy with Satsuki’s emotions!” 

“Shut up,” Taiga said. “All of you. Kuroko, thank you for standing up for me. Kise, stop teasing Daiki. Daiki, if you’re serious about … what you were saying before, then I … um, accept your feelings.” 

“Ah,” Daiki said, pleased. “Good. I mean, I wish you’d said that when we were alone, but whatever.” 

“Kurokoicchi!” Kise said suddenly, “do you know what this means?” 

“No,” Tetsu said, “And I don’t toy with Momoi-san’s emotions, Aomine-kun. We are friends and will always be so.” 

“Kurokoicchi always ignores me,” Kise said, a tragic look on his face. “I sometimes think you came to Kaijou so you could ignore me at closer range.” 

“Haha, that’s probably true,” Daiki said, wandering back into Taiga’s kitchen and grabbing two cans of sodas from the fridge. He thought about it, and got one more for Tetsu. After another moment, thinking about how much Kise would whine, he grabbed one last one.

“Oi,” Taiga said from the couch, “don’t keep the fridge door open, you idiot. You’ll spoil the food.” 

*

It was the best during games. Daiki had a lot of theories about the Zone, how to get there and why it was open to some people and not to others. But for Taiga, it wasn’t something you could reason your way into -- or out of. It just was. Playing with Daiki was like that too -- elemental, raw, and wild. If he’d stayed in America, Taiga knew he’d never get a chance to play like this. 

He and Daiki were caught in some kind of obit, obeying only the gravitational pull of their own bodies and their drive to win. They’d keep winning and keep playing as long as the universe allowed them to -- and that was all he wanted. 

**Author's Note:**

> Summary quote from Sir William Herschel, observing the behavior of binary stars in 1802. 
> 
> Check this out [animation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Artist%27s_impression_of_the_evolution_of_a_hot_high-mass_binary_star.ogv) on the life of binary stars. It's actually kind of tragic, no? 
> 
> Also, as further evidence of how much of a gigantic nerd I am, I was actually thinking of writing an all-celestial bodies AU based on this prompt. Wouldn't have worked but obviously Aomine's a [ B-type main-sequence star](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-type_main-sequence_star) \-- live fast, burn bright and blue and leave a massive supernova when you die. But the others aren't so easy! 
> 
> (Kuroko is a supermassive black hole, NATURALLY. Is Kagami the spiral galaxy that surrounds him??) 
> 
> As for the actual question on in the prompt, which this story ... does not quite answer ... I think eventually, yes? But what if Kagami and Aomine have TEAMWORK and LOVING BASKETBALL and BEING LESS OF A GIANT FUCKING DOUCHE as well as THE ZONE?? Oh shit, things are about to get real.


End file.
